Giacomo Girolamo Casanova was born in Venice in 1725 to actress Zanetta Farussi, wife of actor and dancer Gaetano Giuseppe Casanova. Giacomo was the first of six children, being followed by Francesco Giuseppe (1727-1803), Giovanni Battista (1730-1795), Faustina Maddalena (1731-1736), Maria Maddalena Antonia Stella (1732-1800), and Gaetano Alvise (1734-1783). At the time of Casanova's birth, the Republic of Venice thrived as the pleasure capital of...